I just spent four dollars on ONE tomato. Yep, I have a problem. I think I could have probably gotten this entire sandwich for that much money somewhere else, but nope, I had to get the biggest, most beautiful heirloom tomato from union square. And it was totally worth it. So basically after buying this tomato I decided I had to do a grilled cheese around it and I thought what better than the all time Italian classic - the caprese.
So there's a lot of ingredients that go into this one, but I promise it makes it reeeealllly good.
Ingredients:
- 2 tbs hot pepper infused olive oil
- 1 ts garlic salt
- 2 pieces of olive oil & garlic ciabatta
- 1 clove of garlic
- mozerella (amount dependent on bread size)
- ½ tbs balsamic glaze
- 3 big basil leaves
- 1 heirloom tomato (or more)
So the first thing you'll want to do is to sprinkle the garlic salt onto the mozzarella. I think it makes the mozzarella much tastier and my mom did it when I was little so I think it's the right way.
Now you can lay half the cheese onto one of the slices of bread. Make sure to slice the cheese so it fits onto the bread without any of it hanging off.
Then slice that beaut of a tomato and lay it down on top of that. Eat the rest of the tomato with salt and pepper and enjoy.
Next drizzle some balsamic glaze on the tomato. The balsamic not only tastes delcious and balances out the saltiness of the cheese, but it also functions as a glue for the basil, which is the next step.
At this point you'll want to julienne the basil and sprinkle it on top of the mater.
Now put the remaining cheese on top!
Almost done, almost done, almost done! bread time!
After about a minute and a half it should be golden brown. When it gets all pretty like that, drizzle the remaining olive oil and flip it. Be careful because when mozzarella melts, it's that not sticky and there's a lot of stuff on this guy so stuff might fall out. If it does, REMAIN CALM, just take everything back to your cutting board and reassemble, but don't burn yourself.
Lauren
You have got to be kidding me!!! That is the most delicious looking grilled cheese EVER! That tomatoes does look like is it worth $4! Wow! Lovely 🙂
Gelata
I tried this at home myself last week, at the request of a hungry, grilled cheese-loving house guest. Turned out pretty well, though we were at the discretion of the stock of the supermarket near my house (left something to be desired). We ended up with rosemary-olive oil ciabatta (gave an interesting kick), and a basic balsamic reduction. I thought the sandwich turned out well (my partner in sandwich-building crime loved it). But you weren't kidding when you said it would be hard to flip--WOW!
Anonymous
OMG... W-T-F...
my jaw won't come off the floor and my left hand won't come out of my pants
20 something
woah lady, i think we have a few things in common. http://glorioussandwiches.blogspot.com/ i'm so pleased i'll have another (and truly commendably executed) sandwich blog to look at!
MacKenzie Smith
thanks john!
foodfreak- Having a grilled cheese truck sounds amazing and I think I would much rather have that than a restaurant. It sucks that you weren't able to do it:( Your website is awesome too, just started following you on twitter. thanks!
The Food Freak
Let me just say that as someone who started a blog myself not so long ago that focuses on step by step photographs, I absolutely love you blog! Not only am I a food freak (as my name suggests), I also spent 1 year planning a grilled cheese truck in NYC only to have my master plan shattered by a city that stifles small businesses. Now I started http://www.Thefoodfreak.com, a blog very similar to yours except mine doesn't focus mainly on GC but I love that its your focus. You really do have some inventive sandwich ideas here and they all look delicious. I know how hard it is but you should absolutely be making plans to start up a grilled cheese shop with some of these recipes, its clear that people are loving them. Keep it up!!! - The Food Freak